Overpopulation crowds South Florida animal shelters

The cages are filled, as they almost always are, with dogs and puppies nervously barking, cats and kittens plaintively mewing. They come in with names like Toto, Angel and Sam, though many are known only by a number.

Most will never leave.

Last year, animal shelters in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties took in 112,197 strays and unwanted pets. Almost two-thirds  70,514  were put to death, the Sun-Sentinel found.

Its a disgrace, says Cherie Wachter, marketing director of the Humane Society of Broward County. Euthanasia is the last thing we want to do, but the public forces us to because [people] arent responsible.

While pet overpopulation throughout the country is generally declining, the numbers of animals brought to South Florida shelters has climbed by as much as 25 percent since 1990.

New residents abandon animals because they cant afford them or dont want to pay pet deposits for rental housing. People move away and leave their animals behind. Pets become homeless when their elderly owners die or move to nursing homes. Some owners oppose pet sterilization.

We live in a throwaway society, says Allan Siegel, marketing director at Broward County Animal Care and Regulation. Unfortunately, that extends to pets.

Local shelters have made progress in reducing the percentage of animals killed. But when measured against the human population, South Floridas euthanasia rate for animals tops that of Chicago or Los Angeles and is three times higher than New York Citys, the newspaper found.

Many of the animals are too sick, injured or aggressive to be adopted. Others are not: entire litters of kittens not yet weaned, dogs and cats with colds or treatable illnesses.

Were euthanizing thousands of healthy animals every year simply because there arent enough homes for them, says Arin Holden, volunteer coordinator for the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in West Palm Beach.

Its happening even though spending by South Florida public animal control agencies, private shelters and animal welfare groups tops $25 million a year. And even though shelters and vets are spaying and neutering thousands of animals each year for free or at a reduced cost.

It is discouraging when you see everything [were] doing, says Gaylene Lee of the Humane Society of Greater Miami. We should be making an impact on our communities.

Banished

Each year, pet owners come by the thousands to the Humane Society of Broward County to give up animals they no longer want. On weekends, the line snakes out the door.

Toto, a 7-year-old Pomeranian mix, wound up at the shelter because her owners are getting a divorce.

A man from Weston arrives with Bubu, a 2-month-old black Lab mix that his wife got while he was out of town.

I have a house, he says. But I cant keep her. I dont have a fence. Shes tearing the house upside down.

The Humane Society, a private nonprofit agency that survives entirely on donations, takes them all. Workers politely ask people if theyd like to leave a donation.

Bubus owner replies: All I have is a hundred. He leaves the dogs blanket and medical records, but no money.

Minutes later, a Pembroke Pines man brings in Sam, a 7-year-old shepherd mix hes had since the dog was a puppy. His owners had a baby a year ago and banished the dog from the house.

Shelter staff members were expecting the next dogs, a pair of Irish setters belonging to an elderly couple who no longer could care for them.

Graying around the muzzle, Goldie, 11, and Girlie, 9, enter the shelter with their tails between their legs and ears back. A shelter worker leads them to a holding area and tries to put the dogs into a cage together.

But Goldie resists, clearly terrified. She convulses and collapses.

A shelter vet determines the dog suffered a heart attack and euthanizes her. An exam on Girlie reveals tumors, and she, too, is killed.

By days end, the shelter has taken in more than 60 animals and found homes for 32. Toto and Bubu are adopted, but Sam is killed.

It just never ends, Wachter says.

Sterilization a key

Comparing how animals in South Florida fare with those in the rest of the nation is difficult. There is no national tracking system for the number of cats and dogs taken in, adopted or killed at shelters.

Most states, including Florida, do not require shelters to report statistics.

Florida needs to do that, says John Snyder of the companion animal division of the Humane Society of the United States. You have to have the numbers. Thats a weakness throughout the country.

The fairest comparison, animal welfare workers say, is to look at the euthanasia rate, the number of animals killed per 1,000 people. The rates for Broward County, 18.6, and Palm Beach County, 15.4, are considerably higher than other large metropolitan areas, the Sun-Sentinel found.

Chicagos euthanasia rate, for instance, is 5.9, and New York Citys is 4.6.

One of the major issues [in South Florida] is this huge influx of people, says Laura Bevan, director of the southeast regional office of the Humane Society of the United States. Pet overpopulation is not being recognized.

In 1996, a task force formed by the Broward County Commission to address the problem issued a report with several recommendations, including extending the hours of operation at Animal Care to increase adoptions.

But little changed, says Ron Fach, a member of the task force.

Boca Raton City Councilman Dave Freudenberg, who also is a board member of the Tri-County Humane Society, says South Florida governments need to band together.

Its a regional problem, he says. We need to do a lot more. The commitment needs to be made to neutering animals. Theres such a cavalier attitude about it.

Sterilizing more animals would help reduce the numbers of homeless and unwanted pets, animal welfare workers say. The statistics back that up.

In six years, one female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies. A cat and her young can produce 420,000 kittens, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

Plans that work

Other communities have tackled pet overpopulation with impressive results.

In the decade ending in 2000, Denver shelters reduced by more than one-third the number of animals brought in, and the number of cats and dogs killed declined by 60 percent.

By state law, shelters in Colorado must report their statistics, and residents can donate money to a pet overpopulation fund on their state income tax returns, says Bob Rohde, president of the Dumb Friends League, a private shelter in Denver.

Denver also requires pet owners to spay or neuter their animals, with exceptions for breeders.

Maricopa County, Arizona, one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, has seen its animal euthanasia rate fall from 30 per 1,000 people to 9 through a five-year plan to reduce pet overpopulation.

But Boks didnt. Shortly after taking the job in 1998, he changed the catch and kill mission to one aimed at rescuing and saving animals.

The agency built an adoption center and two clinics to spay and neuter pets.

The shelter offers dog obedience training to the community and has two parks where potential owners can get acquainted with animals up for adoption.

In the first year, adoptions rose almost 25 percent, and the euthanasia rate dropped by 8 percent.

When you move in this direction, your community will support you like theyve never supported you, Boks says. It can be done.

The City Council in Los Angeles, where the euthanasia rate is 10 per 1,000 people, adopted an ordinance two years ago making it more expensive for pet owners who do not sterilize their animals. The pet license fee for an unaltered animal rose to $100, compared to $10 for a sterilized pet.

Counties in South Florida have similar ordinances, but the cost difference is minimal. In Broward, for instance, a license for a sterilized animal costs $11 compared to $22 for an unaltered animal.

Chip Briggs of Adopt A Pet, a Miami shelter, says South Florida should follow Denvers lead and require owners to sterilize their pets. It should be mandatory, he says. Thats the only way its ever going to make a difference.

Animal welfare groups in Miami-Dade County are applying for a $6 million grant from Maddies Fund, a private foundation awarding $200 million to communities to end killing at animal shelters.

The money would be used over five years to hold large adoption events, increase spay/neuter programs and heighten public awareness of the problem.

The Humane Society in Miami took a controversial step in March, becoming the first large shelter in South Florida to stop euthanizing animals that are healthy or have treatable conditions. Animals that would have been killed are no longer accepted.

We tell people, If you take your animal to Animal Control, the probability of getting adopted is small, says Lee, the deputy director for humane care. This is your choice.

But the so-called no-kill shelters have downsides, too. Adopt A Pet does not kill animals to make room for others, taking in only puppies and kittens likely to be adopted.

But many of the animals spend months or years in cages, waiting for a home, Briggs says.

Meantime, during the next week in South Florida, more than 1,000 animals will be killed.

When youre thinking of getting an animal, do some research on the different kinds of breeds, the time commitment, says Holden, of the Peggy Adams shelter.

Having an animal is lot of fun, a lot of love, but its also a lot of responsibility.

Sally Kestin can be reached at skestin@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4510.